All Elite Wrestling presents Dark
Date: 12/3/2019
From: Hoffman Estates, IL
Matches:
1.) Jimmy Havoc defeated Brandon Cutler
2.) Shawn Spears defeated Sonny Kiss
3.) Proud-N-Powerful (Santana & Ortiz) defeated Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt)
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Dasha Gonzalez is back to co-host the show with Tony Schiavone. They discuss the recent happenings between MJF and DDP on Dynamite. They also rundown the matches scheduled to take place on Dark this week.
2.) Nyla Rose joins Excalibur on commentary for the episode.
3.) Havoc backs Cutler into a corner and slaps Cutler before backing off. Havoc controls Cutler with a wrist lock for a moment. Cutler counters with a wrist lock, but Havoc breaks free with a snapmare and a rollup on the mat. Cutler rolls through a wrist lock and Havoc keeps Cutler on the mat. Cutler counters by yanking Havoc to the mat and keeps wrist control. Havoc rolls through a sunset flip attempt, but Cutler tries for a backslide. Havoc blocks the move by biting Cutler’s arm. Cutler escapes a hammerlock, but Havoc strikes Cutler into the corner. Havoc chops Cutler in the corner. Cutler avoids a clothesline and a splash in the corner. Cutler kicks Havoc and delivers a slingshot kick. Cutler comes off the ropes with an elbow strike. Cutler clotheslines Havoc over the top to the floor. Cutler tries for a dive, but Havoc stops Cutler by showing a staple gun. The referee takes the staple gun. Havoc sends Cutler to the floor after eye gouging Cutler. Havoc sends Cutler into the guard railing. Cutler sends Havoc into the railing. Cutler strikes Havoc several times to gain the advantage. Cutler misses a chop and hits the post. Havoc responds with a chop and rolls Cutler into the ring. Havoc runs into an elbow in the corner. Havoc overhead suplexs Cutler into the corner. Havoc hits a snap suplex into the corner for a near fall. Cutler kicks Havoc several times and connects with a knee drop. Cutler tries for a full nelson slam, but Havoc bites Cutler’s arm. Cutler elbows free from Havoc and hits a swinging slam for a two count. Havoc double stomps Cutler out of the corner. Havoc goes to the apron and tries for a suplex to the floor, but Cutler punches Havoc and kicks Havoc over the middle rope. Cutler leg drops Havoc over the middle rope and they go to the floor. Cutler stands on the apron hitting a springboard elbow drop leading to a near fall. Havoc strikes Cutler followed by the Acid Rainmaker for the win. After the match, Havoc staples a check to Cutler’s forehead. The check is worth $10k. (*1/2. I’m not a fan of Havoc as his style doesn’t connect with me. Cutler is a jobber and there wasn’t much heat to this one, at all.)
4.) Backstage, Brandon Cutler asks Havoc what that was about stapling a check to his forehead. Havoc considers the check he stapled to be him paying the fine. Havoc offers another check for the next time he does it. Havoc will be fined $10k each time he uses the staple gun.
5.) Spears backs Kiss into a corner to start the match, but backs off. Spears puts a headlock on Kiss, but Kiss quickly rolls through. Kiss ducks a clothesline and does a split after Spears blocked a kick. Kiss tries for a rollup, but only manages a two count. Kiss does some booty shaking, but Spears chops Kiss. Spears elbows Kiss coming off the ropes. Spears taunts Kiss by flexing his buttocks. Spears flips off the crowd for chanting “ten.” Kiss avoids a back suplex and dropkicks Spears into a corner. Kiss forearms Spears over the middle rope and hits a cartwheel kick for a two count. Kiss strikes Spears from the apron, but Spears decks Kiss off the apron. Spears rams Kiss into the railing. Spears rams Kiss into the apron back first several times. Spears drives Kiss onto the apron with a back suplex. Spears strikes Kiss in the corner followed by stomps and a clothesline. Spears stomps Kiss on the mat. Spears hits the C4 and pins Kiss for the win. (*. There wasn’t much to this one. Kiss had a couple of moments to showcase their ability, but this was mostly Spears getting the shine.) After the match, Spears and Blanchard nail Kiss with a spike piledriver on the floor.
6.) A video package highlighting Jungle Boy living in the woods in shown. Luchasaurus eating plants is shown, as well. Marko Stunt is shown jumping around and is considered the baby of the group.
7.) Boy and Santana kickoff the main event. Santana backs Boy into a corner and backs off after a strike to the chest. Boy shoves Santana away. Santana takes Boy down to the mat with a front face lock. Boy counters with a wrist lock, but is backed against the ropes. Santana gains wrist control on Boy. Boy delivers a hurricanrana and they have a standoff. Boy dropkicks Santana after Santana taunted the fans. Boy chops Santana in the corner. Boy forearms Santana in the corner and Stunt spears Santana. Boy nails Santana with an assisted spear with Stunt on his shoulders. Stunt nails Santana with a kick and Boy double stomps Santana. Stunt hits a cannonball senton for a near fall. Boy axe handles Ortiz over the arm. Boy keeps wrist control and Stunt tags in to deliver a double stomp to the arm. Stunt dropkicks Ortiz in the corner. Ortiz avoids Boy in the corner and rolls Stunt into Santana where they hit a dropkick/German suplex combo on Stunt. Ortiz back rakes Stunt to keep the advantage followed by a back suplex for a near fall. Santana returns to the match and kicks Stunt on the arm. Santana plants Stunt with a back suplex and taunts the fans some more. Santana stomps Stunt on the lower midsection. Santana hands Stunt to Ortiz in a delayed vertical position. Ortiz tags out to Santana again and they trade Stunt a couple of times. Stunt counters Santana with a cradle, but Santana kicks out and delivers a few suplexs. Santana goes back to a delayed vertical and Ortiz hits a Falcon Arrow on Stunt.
Ortiz back rakes Stunt on the floor. Boy and Stunt are rammed into each other on the floor. Santana slams Boy on the floor. Santana slams Stunt onto Boy on the floor. Boy and Stunt are sat on chairs and chopped. Santana takes them both out with a cannonball senton after leaping off of Ortiz’s back. Ortiz locks in a Boston Crab on Stunt in the middle of the ring. Stunt struggles to the ropes to break the hold. Stunt almost pins Ortiz with a rollup. Boy tags into the match and cleans house. Boy uppercuts Ortiz in the corner followed by a clothesline. Boy heads to the top rope, but Santana grabs Boy from the apron. Ortiz is kicked away and Boy hits a top rope crossbody for a two count on Ortiz. Ortiz shoulder rams Boy against the ropes. Boy sends Ortiz to the floor and dumps Santana to the apron. Santana tries for a sunset flip, but Boy holds onto the ropes. Santana gets a rollup on Boy, but Stunt delivers a dropkick from off the top. Stunt plants Ortiz with a tornado DDT. Boy and Stunt hit a splash/leg drop combo on Santana for a two count. Santana dumps Stunt to the apron and delivers a forearm strike. Santana is kicked by Stunt and Boy has Santana over his shoulder. Stunt hits a flipping cutter for a near fall. Stunt heads to the top rope, but Ortiz sends Boy into the ring steps. Santana catches Stunt to hit a reverse powerbomb. Orits nails Stunt with a Liger Bomb and Santana nails Stunt with a boot to the face to win the match. (***. There was some good action, but the crowd didn’t seem to respond to it as well as I thought they would. They got plenty of time to tell a story and I thought they turned in a quality match. Stunt and Jungle Boy can be a fun underdog team for the tag division.) After the match, Sammy Guevara comes out live streaming the segment and they attack Jurassic Express some more. Luchasaurus comes out to make the save. Luchasaurus kicks Guevara on the floor. Santana runs into a kick and Ortiz is met with a knee strike. Luchasaurus is stopped by a double kick and knee strike by Guevara. Luchasaurus delivers a few kicks before chokeslamming Ortiz and hit a standing moonsault. Jack Hager slowly makes his way down to the ring to confront Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus invites Hager into the ring and Hager steps towards Luchasaurus and shoves him. Hager tries for a clothesline, but Luchasaurus responds with a kick. Neither man budges. Luchasaurus tries for a chokeslam, but the Inner Circle overwhelm Luchasaurus. Young Bucks runs into the ring and deliver a superkick to Santana and Ortiz. Luchasaurus slams Guevara to the mat gut first and Sammy is met with a double superkick. Stunt spikes Guevara with a Canadian Destroyer.
Final Thoughts:
An average episode at best this week as only the tag match stood out for anything in-ring quality wise. There wasn’t much original programming outside of the matches and that should mean Dark’s format is mostly going to resemble what Heat and Velocity were for WWE in the early 2000’s, which is perfectly fine with me.
Thanks for reading.